Top Law Schools

Which firms/offices in California, and specifically Los Angeles, are generally regarded as the most competitive based on grades?

I would guess Munger leads the list. But which other firms essentially require YHS, T6 top 25%, or T14 LR? And where do Irell, QE, Latham, OMM, GDC, etc. fall?

So, take this with a grain of salt because I have don't OCI yet, but my understanding is as far as general selectivity goes:

Munger>Irell>>>>Latham=GDC>>Quinn Emmanuel>OMM>>>>>>>>>>everyone else (Shephard Mullin, Mannatt Phelps, etc.)

There are some weird dynamics, like Irell and Quinn are pretty much exclusively lit shops, so if your resume/transcript reads corporate they might not want you even with great grades. Irell is also really heavy on IP lit so I bet a technical background would help.

There's also practice group/office differences. GDC has a great appellate lit practice, but I imagine getting into that would be much, much harder than other practice area at the firm.

I don't know where firms based elsewhere with big LA offices fit in. I know Sidley and Skadden have pretty big LA offices. Skadden probably fits in near Latham/GDC, while Sidley might be somewhere slightly below. Not sure though.

imchuckbass58 wrote:So, take this with a grain of salt because I have don't OCI yet, but my understanding is as far as general selectivity goes:

Munger>Irell>>>>Latham=GDC>>Quinn Emmanuel>OMM>>>>>>>>>>everyone else (Shephard Mullin, Mannatt Phelps, etc.)

There are some weird dynamics, like Irell and Quinn are pretty much exclusively lit shops, so if your resume/transcript reads corporate they might not want you even with great grades. Irell is also really heavy on IP lit so I bet a technical background would help.

There's also practice group/office differences. GDC has a great appellate lit practice, but I imagine getting into that would be much, much harder than other practice area at the firm.

I don't know where firms based elsewhere with big LA offices fit in. I know Sidley and Skadden have pretty big LA offices. Skadden probably fits in near Latham/GDC, while Sidley might be somewhere slightly below. Not sure though.

Munger is the most selective, but after that it probably looks like Gibson Dunn >>> Irell/QE > Latham. Skadden was particularly selective in LA this year, but GDC/Irell/QE can normally be seen as peers in terms of selectivity.

Munger Tolles and Irell are the most prestigious generally. If you are talking about SF in addition to SoCal, Altshuler Berzon is the cream of the crop.